Sword Art Online: Wolf's Tail
by ShottyREDx
Summary: On the 75th floor on November 7th, 2024, the Death Game known as Sword Art Online was defeated. We know the story of Kirito beating the game... But was he the only benefiting factor to the games completion? Travel through the eyes of Eden and Desiak of how they're unlikely friendship saves the lives of many, and prevents future uncertainty from happening... This is their story.
1. A New Story

**Hello there SAO fans! This story is co-written by Desiak Black and myself, but we will be posting on my channel so theres no confussion. He's better in spelling and grammar then me as well *chuckles***

**So this is the first chapter of a long series! We hope you like it!**

**'Sword Art Online' was created by Reki Kawahara, This is a non-profit story. All Orginal Characters are created by Desiak Black and Myself.**

**Please Enjoy!**

Chapter 1: A New Story

The intensity of the heat of the flame resided over the players with great threat and fear… The ground creaked with every step. The drippings of the wax spilled over from the lighted candles high above the ground on cratered pillars. If sound was made, it was hard to hear from the players breathing, and hearts pounding out from their chests, the anxiety was taking over…

A loud screech echoed from the room over filled with darkness and revulsion… The mirroring walls of respite and the monster that lived within its walls, only contained by numbers and writing that consist within the terrifying and horrific death game known as…

Sword Art Online.

* * *

Fire barreled over head as Eden tried to collect his thoughts amis the chaos around him. His blue eyes darted around seeing the poor army of eight that he had stumbled into a boss room with.

_'Why were they so stupid?!'_ Eden shook his head. Trying to chase out any thoughts of doubt he had while letting his instincts take over.

His body started to shake, adrenaline taking over, or at least what this world's substitute for it was. He didn't know what to call it but it felt real almost. The swordsman never really felt it before this moment. The fire, grunting, and the insatiable roar of the aerial boss above, words had begun repeating, drumming in his head like a beat.

_'Survive, survive, just survive god Dammit.'_

The boss room of the 4th floor was a cave like structure, spiraling endlessly upwards only to be topped with what he could guess could be a nest. The walls were smooth and glossed over with some type of oil. Though, the brutal creator of this room left edges that could be used like a staircase to get to the top.

_'No, that would take too much time, and with only eight people, I have to help the others__…__'_

A darker skinned man stood out from the others with his iron shoulder plates, and broader body type. Taller than the rest, he tried to take control of the men as the monster flew up.

"We need Defensives now! If we can't block his attacks, then there's no point in trying to get out of here alive!"

Just as the man gained sight of what could be the possible boss, a aerial fire breather with feathers grey like storm clouds swooshed back down for another sweeping arc of the ground floor.

Eden saw the soaring fire breather come plummeting down, knowing that only one person can hold his ground in fight like this.

"Desiak!"

A tall broad man appeared from the darkness in a sprint, trying to gain loss ground of what could possibly be the last moments of the players in the room. He stood in front of the darker skinned man in front, grabbing his shield from his own back.

"Let's see how strong you really are!"

The tall black haired man got to one knee as he planted his shield's pointed bottom down to the wooden floor beneath him, leaving the silver surface tilted at a 70 degree angle.

As he got the attention of the beast, Desiak yelled out, "Everyone run, now!"

Desiak's voice just made it to the group before the boss swooped down to face Desiak personally. The beast recoiled its feathered neck before bursting its head forward with an unhinged jaw letting liquid fire spray towards Desiak's shield in a condensed beam. The party broke into a sprint, making haste to the slick glossy walls of the room. The pillar of fire hit him like a truck. After the initial shock he visibly tensed, letting out a battle cry that made each of the eight receive chills.

"Desiak!" Eden called out, before turning around to realize that he was at the base of the staircase that led up above the nest far overhead.

_'Looks like we're getting a bit of luck.'_

The swordsman took a last look at the now dome of fire around his party member before starting up stairs, seeing this was a chance to get to the boss's back. It was a long shot but it may be a weak point for him to attack at. Eden started up the mock staircase, each passing second his new ally was burning in an inferno beneath him.

The swordsmen sprinted up the ledges as he let out a exhausted sigh, cursing beneath his exhaled breath…

"Dammit..."  
**  
Flash Back: One Week Earlier****…**

The sun was already beginning a reddened descent over the city of the 3rd floor where Eden was told to meet up with different guilds to take on the 4th floor boss. People had lost the initial excitement after the first three victories, and people were losing their patience for organized raids.

Eden had some-what long hair that went over his eyes. It was a dark brown that spiked above his forehead. He had sharp blue eyes that caught the attention of others quickly. A height no bigger than 5'10, thin, but toned throughout. He wore a blue cloak that went down to his feet, and over it he wore a black vest with silver outlining the whole vest. On his arms, he had leather bindings wrapped around it, but leaving his hands open. He wore similar leather bindings for his boots, with a leather belt.

After reaching this far southern pocket of the town Arkile, Eden saw the meeting place described. It matched the same style of the town, 'A Rickety'. Brown tinted, more styled after a western art, but put through more of a modern look in a med-evil type of era.

The swordsman looked up to the top of the building described, checking the name.

"The Lucky Shovel..."

He had whispered the name to himself, thinking outloud. His mind stopped thinking over this place, it was shit, and that was a compliment. He finally decided to head for the door.

Eden reached for the front door only to have it slammed into his face. The swordsman cursed under his breath checking his face for any injuries, an old habit of the real world. Injuries weren't permanent here, he could lose a hand and as long as he had something to heal himself with he'd be fine.

He sighed realizing how stupid he must've looked.

After a quick moment of dusting himself off, Eden looked up to see a normal lengthen woman with short boyish green hair holding back laughter behind two bright red blushing cheeks. She looked young, probably around sixteen or so from Eden's perspective.

Her armor was limited to a regular sized bright blue cuirass covering her breasts and a pair of gauntlets currently covering her mouth. The boy snapped back to reality realizing he was staring at her.

"O-oh, s-sorry."

The girl canted her head, her bangs falling over her nose and onto her shoulder.

"Y-You're- sorry?" She stifled a giggle before going on, lowering her hands from her mouth since the initial scare has worn off." I bashed a door into your face!" She jutted her thumb to the door at her left, before looking up to see he was looking down toward his boots.

The green haired girl's face turned red seeing she may have hurt his feelings.

"Oh no, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your-"

She stopped as the swordsman kept his head down, brushing himself past her to walk into the bar, leaving her blinking trying to make sense of him.

Eden pushed himself into the bar, the immediate scent of an authentic saloon hitting his nostrils like a train. It didn't help that everyone in the bar turned towards the late comer only to see a teenager with a twisted face looking almost like he just smelt vinegar.

The swordsmen exhaled taking into the new smell like it was water he was having to breath, simply accepting it. His blue eyes adjusted to the new scenery of the dark dust filtered room to see every single damn eye on him for a moment before turning back forward towards a dark skinned man at the center of the room standing.

"Now that enough have arrived we can begin." called out the dark skinned man.

Eden counted a total of forty heads in total before attempting to find a seat, it seemed as though somebody from every walk of life was here. Men, women, undecided from their looks. The swordsman's train of thought was interrupted by a new voice that called out over the crowd of mumbling voices.

"Talon let's get this thing started!" came a voice from the crowd that Eden couldn't match a bobbing head to.

The dark skinned man, named Talon by context, sighed at the outcry of an attendant of his meeting. He seemed fairly strict considering this -was- a meeting for business.

Eden guessed the black man was named Talon, or at least his alias. His real name honestly didn't matter.

Talon started himself again, his eyes wavering over the crowd as he spoke trying to obviously get a feel of everyone's reactions. "I'm glad we've gotten so many of you, it truly startled me that I didn't hear word that we were going to the fifth floor after the first week alone."

A wave of understanding moved through the crowd.

At this point in the speech Eden had found the last empty seat, to his luck it was behind a heavily plated man with only a single shoulder pad. The man turned around with a hardened expression, he seemed to fit in perfect with the western feel of Arkile. That mirage was broken as soon as the man whispered, his jaw slacking as though he was chewing tobacco. This to Eden's knowledge wasn't a feature in SAO. He could be wrong.

"Hey kid..."

This tensed Eden, already disliking the interaction, but to be called kid by a guy that looked the same age as him suddenly brought up the urge to fight him.

"What." Eden said in more of a mono tone voice, straightening himself in his chair making himself seem larger than the height he was, hopefully unnoticed.

The man not even paying attention to Eden's movement went along with what he was saying.

"You uh, you ever hear of a..Chupa-cobra?"

Eden's blank expression said for him that he didn't care. The thought rose that he had even gotten the name wrong. Eden suddenly was trying to find a reason to not look at the man. After another second of awkward silence between the two, Eden turned his head to ignore the inferred cowboy, leaving him to his own thoughts of mystical creatures.

The tall man furrowed his brow seeing Eden turned him away. But his tough cowboy act played on, at this point throwing a southern-American accent into the fray.

"Oh, I see, I see...To good for Ole' Dessy." Desiak continued on for a moment mumbling what Eden could only think was a curse.

Eden got at least a name, Dessy...A terrible name.

Once Eden got his focus back on Talon the guy started again.

"This is how we're going to do things." He stopped for a moment seeing no objections rise from the crowd.

"It's not my place to push you all but we need to get back on track with these bosses. It's a week in and we haven't even found where it is."

Eden leaned into his chair, crossing his arms over his chest in a more relaxed position as Talon continued.

"We'll be splitting into parties five parties of eight; we'll start in a few days with mapping out the area. Once we find him, we'll call everyone back to plan this." Talon started to grow quiet,  
the saloon followed his tone.

"Now everyone send me a friend request, and start matching groups."

Eden scanned the room seeing parties forming, friends with friends, a few couples selecting people from a line. Couples usually fought well so far, knowing each other's movements is an advantage during fights that need people to switch lead roles frequent-

"Tally!" Desiak stood on a table, getting the attention of others as he stood there courage's and free, "I have chosen for you to be with me!"

Eden's train of thought was interrupted by two loud voices yelling to one another, as he turned to see Desiak high fiving Talon.

"I will gladly accept your noble and most honorable invite Dessy!" Talon was equally excited to see him and it seemed Desiak had already sent an invite for the party that Talon was in the process of accepting.

Eden, off in his own world, analyzing which group would be the least in his way. Getting a better look at Talon and Desiak, they were both roughly the same size.

Desiak was well over six foot, possibly 6"3. His armor was odd to say the least; he wore a silver cuirass that seemed heavier than the standard one people had at this level. Along with that, he had a triangular shoulder pad on his left shoulder, also silver. As for his lower body he was fairly ordinary. A bit of heavy plate on his thighs covering grey pants and some silver boots rounded at the tip with plate. Eden's eyes tried to get a glimpse at his weapons, only to see a shield and the handle to what he could only assume was a lance from the circling hilt that protected it's user's hand, much like a rapier.

Talon was easier to see, his armor was dark green attire, a simple cuirass, sphere, with spaulder shoulder pads. It was ordinary to see this with people out in the hunting grounds fighting with it.

The guy would be able to hold his own in a fight.

"Hey...kid." Desiak had secretly snuck to the seat right next to Eden while he was trying to figure out Talon.

A tick mark formed over Eden's head as he closed his eyes ignoring the guy to his right as best he could. They were the only two sitting down in the saloon. All of its inhabitants had been moved to the edges of the room, talking amongst themselves in groups. Mostly about tactics, and who could do what.

"Okay listen, I'm goanna cut you a deal." Dessy had dropped his cowboy persona, defaulting to what Eden could only assume was his normal deep tone. "You accept that invite, and I won't send it again."

Eden opened one eye to see Dessy had already taken the trouble of sending the party invitation. He closed his eye again before speaking.

"I'm a soloer. I'll be fine." Eden stated bluntly.

Dessy pursed his lips, stumped. Before trying from a different approach, "How about you press okay." His tone suggested he was annoyed, but that hardly fazed the swordsmen, he didn't think this guy could hurt a fly let alone go through with a threat.

"I'm fine. I don't need obnoxious people like you intervening with my time. So if you don't mind, please see yourself out." Eden said in a blunt voice, trying to let his point get across as he crossed his arms.

Desiak stayed quiet before quickly grabbing Eden's hand attempting to force the swordsmen too unwillingly to push the accept button.

"Just push it!"

"No!" Eden tried getting his hand back pulling at his arm with his free hand as the two had a tug-o'-war over it.

Talon blinked once, twice, knowing that Desiak was like this, but the idea of personal space apparently exist in the single shoulder padded man's mind.

"Don't be a little bitch!"

"Who are you calling little?!"

Eden gave a final tug of his hands, only to fall back in his chair. Desiak took the opportunity of freefall to yank Eden's arm forward pressing the 'Accept Invite' button. Eden was flung to the ground, his agility allowed him to catch himself to a knee before standing up glairing daggers at Desiak, who was rubbing his black hair beaming cheerful grey eyes to the swordsmen.

**Flash Back Ended**

_'Where'd the boss go?'_

Eden's thought had a moment to settle in before he was interrupted by the roar of wings whooshing a foot away from his face.

The boss in the time Eden took to climb the stairs had flown back above the nest and had descended down on Eden's side of the circular room. As the beast barreled down the tower like room the wind behind it created a massive force that brought Eden to his knees on the ledge when it had flown by, swallowing hard, and tensing up due to the appearance of the boss. Now knowing where it was, he got to his feet drawing his one handed sword.

He had to time this perfectly...

Desiak panted as he rested his head on his shield, his health bar lowered significantly to almost half health. The boss soared right over Desiak who was still recovering from the earlier attack that Eden used as a diversion. Desiak visibly tensed as the boss went a foot over his head flying past him to start back up the wall opposite to Eden's.

Eden whispered a curse under his breath only to have the beast take an immediate right turn flying along the surface of the slicked walls, circling around for a few turns.

The group was looking in terror as they tried to pinpoint where the boss was going to go, he was simply too fast. The dark skinned man, now known as Talon, had taken the time to run out his spear in hand to Desiak's side, breaking a healing crystal to regenerate their defender's health. Desiak was still panting; sweating from the heat and damage he just endured.

"Where'd Eden go?" Talon broke out trying to look around the room for the swordsman only to have him pointed out by a tired Desiak.

Desiak stood up slowly, eyeing Eden immediately through a glimpse of his sword he had just drawn. Even with the few candles floating in the air, it was enough to cause its reflection. Desiak acted as thought they had mapped out this boss fight days in advance, his voiced confidence lying to the group as he yelled out.

"Alright, were going to need all the defenders with shields knelled down in the front, and the rest in the back with me!"

Talon, taking offence to Desiak's orders to his men, he turned around towards him and spoke with a bit of a bark in his voice.

"Des, these are my men, and your one of them. They don't need to have orders from you, they need to have orders from me," He said with a bit of urgency, trying to show that he had some type of leadership left, and stability.

Desiak turned around, pulling out his lance, gripping it tightly in one hand. "You may be the one who started this," Desiak said walking face to face with Talon, "But we're the ones finishing it."

Talon blinked, shocked, letting Desiak make sense of his response on his own.

Desiak nodded at Talon, addressing the group next. "Get ready! If something goes wrong with Eden, we're all that's left!"

The group rushed to position now with a second wind, a voice yelled from the moving people.

"Yeah! We've got this!"

Desiak couldn't help but grin,

_'Maybe we're gonna live?'  
_

* * *

Eden had begun timing when the beast would fly below him, on the third time going around Eden jumped. He was in freefall for a moment before raising his sword over his head, letting it glow blue showing he was about to activate the 'Stab' ability. His sword followed through piercing into the boss's right wing. A significant chunk of its health went down leaving two bars left for the group to deal with.

Down below they were in position as they watched the boss's health start dropping as if they were all attacking. They were amazed.

"Talon, we could really use you about now."

Desiak spoke calmly to the spear wielder at his left who nodded in reply.

Talon was the only one who bothered to level up his hate skill. The man stepped aside from the huddled group. His spear glowed green. Getting to a throwing position, his spear started to glow brighter as he thrusted his arm forward sending the spear flying toward the boss.

Eden struggled to stay aboard his new ride, it bucked like a horse in the air, writhing, attempting to shake off Eden.

_'I will not let this thing be the end of me__…__'_ Eden started to think as he held on, "I WILL END THIS!"

Eden roared out as he grabbed onto the edge of its wing to start driving his sword deeper into the boss's flesh sending up small fragments that represented blood.

The boss's wing went limp sending the two into a freefall.

Talon's spear landed in the boss's head affectively taking out another chunk of the steadily decreasing health bars. They were down to the last one and the boss was in free fall.

Eden started to lose his grip.

He quickly ripped out his sword from the beast and started regaining some balance. Enough to stand up on the beasts back. As a last ditch effort before he crashed to his death, Eden lept using the boss to launch himself to a ledge of the staircase.

Eden gave out a yell in the effort as his body flew to the ledge.

Desiak looked up, seeing Eden leap from the boss's back and towards the ledge, another burst of energy coursing through him. Like someone turned his blood to sugar.

"Fuck yeah!" He looked over the group, patting a shield bearer's shoulder as the boss came closer to them. "This is all on us!"

The beast came to a climatic crash, denting the floor into a concaved crater.

"Attack!" Desiak ran in a sprint, his lance ready to pierce the boss's head, his group following with their own battle cries.

Eden's body hit the ledge taking a section of his health out on impact. His arms scraped along the ledge, coming down to his fingernails. When he finally got a grip, Eden struggled to bring himself up. When he finally got to his feet, he looked down towards the group that was slaughtering the boss that couldn't do much anything without flight. It was drooling out liquid fire from its mouth. Unable to breathe it out in a torrent like before since Talon had repositioned his spear to skewer the boss's mouth shut, like a toothpick in a sandwich.

Talon grinned, driving his spear in the boss's muzzle, twisting it around as the group sliced and stabbed away at the beast. Its health bars overhead were just about out by the time Eden had decided.

As if the beast still had some fight left in him, he swung his hard skinned tail around hitting a few of the party along with Talon down to the ground. The other men backed away, starting to shake in fear.

"Someone! Help!"

The monster had Talon in a grip, giving it the ability do whatever it wanted.

"I've Gotcha!" Desiak said running in, but was knocked back by the monsters roar, not allowing anyone to get anywhere near the thing.

_'This is my kill.'_

Eden leapt from his ledge that nearly cost him his life to get to, to only go into a free fall towards the beast. Eden's hand tightened around his sword's hilt as he plummeted towards the group.

_'I have to prove who I am__…__'_

His sword glowed blue as a sword ability took effect.

_'And this is the only way!'_

As the monster was starting to charge up the remaining power it had left and strike Talon that laid underneath its tail, Eden's body fell into a pattern even in mid flight, lurching his bodyweight to the slicked wall, his feet skidding along the glossy stone before he pushed his feet off it, spiraling his body with his sword overhead to pierce the beast from the side giving him the final blow.

As the boss let out a dying cry shaking the room, it's health dropped the last inches of life, until Eden thrusted his sword once more into the carcass, the four bars began to slip away, shutting it up at the moment.

A moment of disbelief passed over the group, stopping them all in their tracks, catching some off guard as they stood there in awe that it was over.

Desiak put his lance over his back as he stepped over the boss's tail that disappeared into colorful ambers that all creatures turned into when they were killed.

The sign appeared,

**'Congratulations!'**

Appeared overhead, Eden took a moment to just stare at it. A screen popped up showing a rare item only given to the person that defeats the boss with the final blow.

"Wolf Tail Necklace?" Eden said out loud. It was a silver chain with wolf tails surrounding the whole necklace with a pendent of a wolf in the middle. When he read the description, it said:

**'Wolf Tail Necklace: +10 Speed, +10 Strength'**

Eden clicked the 'Accept' button, and equipped it to himself.

He grinned to himself as he looked around at the others. The men were celebrating with each other, enjoying their victory.

"You alright you crazy fucker?" Desiak asked with a grin as he walked over to him.

Eden let out a glamorous sigh with a small grin, "Yes, I'm just fine."

"How did you know that the back was a weak spot?"

Eden shrugged, acting modest, "I-It was a lucky guess."

"You looked like you had no difficulty with fighting that thing! I mean seriously, what level are you?"

Before Eden had time to even comprehend his answer to Desiak's question, Talon walked up with the rest of his party, "Well ya both did well! I knew you too would work out good together as offence and defense!"

Eden and Desiak looked at each other, and as Desiak grinned Eden only rolled his eyes looking back towards Talon.

"Were going to head out to tell the rest of the groups that we found the boss and defeated it!"

"We-" Eden tried asking in a questioning tone, but before he could finish, Desiak elbowed Eden in the shoulder and shot him a glare.

"You guys coming with us?"

"Sure! We will-"Before Desiak could finish, Eden intervened and gave a chuckle.

"We? I don't know where you're getting this, 'we' thing, but I'm a soloer. I work alone."

Desiak and Talon both looked surprised, "But were on a party together? Why not just stay a party?"

"Because, I knew if I worked together in this situation, it would only progress the boss fight faster. So for my best interest, I would pair up with someone that had a useful skill set, and I knew Desiak had the best Defense."

Talon and Desiak were both in shock.

"Thank you both for your time, and Desiak," Eden said looking at him directly, "Keep up on that leadership trait you have, make a guild or something, you can be really useful on the front lines."

"Well, what about me?" Talon looked at him angrily.

Eden looked at Talon ready to say something, but stopped himself and started to walk away.

"See you guys on the front line." With that, Eden left, walking towards the new founded steps towards the door to the next floor.

"What's that guy's problem?" Talon asked hurt from Eden's reaction to his question he asked.

"Well… I don't know, but it's worth figuring out," Desiak said out loud in more of a questioning tone.

Talon laughed, "Yea go ahead! You heard him, he's a 'Soloer', and they're usually only in for themselves…"

Desiak frowned looking back watching Eden walk into the door, and disappearing from the area.

**Well, that's are first story for Sword Arts Online: Wolf's Tail! ^^ If theres any concerns, likes, or anything at all, please review! It's a new story, so if you could help us out, that would be great by reviewing our story!**

**Just a note: We will be using are own OCC (Orginal Character Creations) So, if you would like to submit you're own character creation, then please either PM or comment on the story with the Characters name, level, favorite weapons, ect. If you have any questions, go ahead and PM as well!**

**Not exactly sure when the next update will be, but I'm sure it will be as soon as we can!**

**Thank you.**


	2. Something to Gain

**Hi! Desiak here, this series Wolf's Tail is hopefully will go on for a long time if me and Shotty can hold from dying in the process..Heheh... *Slowly raises knife* But anyway! "Something to gain" is a bit of a slow going at the the start, this is more to help with the confusion of characters, story and amiss all the chaos of HEATED COMBAT! *Triumphant music* Enjoy :D**

**'Sword Art Online' was created by Reki Kawahara, This is a non-profit story. All Orginal Characters are created by Desiak Black and Myself.**

**Please Enjoy!  
****  
**Chapter 2: Something to Gain

**January 4th, 2023; 12:45 P.M.  
Floor 5: Toppas**

The first beams of light came through the room's curtains landing directly to Desiak's bed on the fifth floor. The man underneath the pixel sheets yawned, his back scrunching forward within the poofy bed as he forced himself awake.

Opening his eyes, he squinted to the sunlight drawn to his face, forcing his reticules to adjust to the newly faun daylight. He thought

Sweeping his somnolent gray eyes around the elegant room, he smiled to himself,

_'I forgot what it was like to have cor, this is so much better than splitting with other parties that barely do anything.'_

Des was in luxury. The 5th floor he helped open was a very extravagant floor. White columns, grand chapels, and cathedrals all covered the major town of Toppas. He had found possibly the first expensive inn he saw and rented his room after arriving, leaving enough cor to take care of the essentials.

The man, well rested, rolled out of bed, his attire of a loose brown shirt and gray pants that went down to his bare feet being the only thing he wore as he walked towards the curtains. He reached a hand out to the fabric sliding open the curtains revealing a balcony of white marble that overlooked the grand square of Toppas. People were already walking around in their armor trying to set up were to hunt, level, and quest. It's this kind of energy that made this place somewhat nice.

Des took a moment to relish in the sight, his eyes half opened as he frowned,

"He held his own..." Desiak's own voice echoed in the crypt of his mind, feeling hollow. "That little guy will make it farther than any of us." Desiak shook his head, bringing himself back to the reality. "Today's the start of it, I have to change."

**Flash Back: January 2nd, 2023; 3:56 A.M.  
Floor 4: Arkile**

"Come on your prick, it's only four!"

Desiak groaned in reply as he waved his hand in the open air to look down at his clock to see it read,

**'3:57 A.M.'**

"Liar!" Desiak barked, jerking his head up before calming himself nearly immediately afterward, falling back onto Talon, and leaning his full weight onto his Guild Leader.

Talon seemed as though he was struggling until he tossed the half asleep lance wielder to a chair in a nearby corner.

"Wake up!"

Desiak fell immediately asleep, a thin streak of drool dangling out the corner of his mouth as he slipped more and more into his slumber.

"You're worse than a child." Talon sighed.

Eden looked up to towards the two entering the inn, his elbows propped on the caps of his knees and his back leaned forward. He seemed content in his own solitude, turning back down to read over something in his menu. The screen was blurred from the other side, opposite to its owner.

Talon turned away from Desiak seeing Eden in the corner. The man gave a wave towards him in a attempt to be friendly with the loner.

"Hey, how're you doing?" said Talon.

Eden poked his eyes up from his menu only for a moment before turning them back down to focus. His head -did- bob once when he looked back down, maybe that was a reply? Who knows.

Talon furrowed his brow; the lack of friendliness didn't sit well with him.

As if on cue, two players walked inside, both had two handed swords. Talon turned away from his evaluation of Eden to face the other party members that had arrived. Their immediate attention was to Desiak, the newcomers stepped towards the sleeping ally cautiously.

Desiak blinked, coming back to himself after his nap.

"Are we all here?" Desiak came back, his head on a swivel looking around the room for a moment before waving his hand in the air bringing out his menu.

"Good morning to you too." Talon sounded annoyed as he walked away and over to the innkeeper looking around for something to buy so that he could eat.

"Mornings here aren't, good Tal." Des frowned slightly, but sighed as he found his armor within his inventory. "They're just God telling us we're still here..."

Desiak tapped at the screen as he stood up. His armor appearing around him, a silver chest plate, some leg plating's, boots, and a single shoulder pad that went down to his hand in a layered plate.

"New armor?"

Desiak nodded his head, looking over his inventory before clicking to equip his lance and shield. His shield was an ordinary rectangular gray dish with a pointed bottom. He looked over himself checking for anything forgotten.

As Desiak finished equipping his gear the last three members came in.

"Is this everyone?"

No one objected, only looked toward Talon waiting on his word.

"Then let's go."

Desiak hefted himself up sheathing his lance and shield before canting a look towards Eden who was calmly getting up, and walking slowly towards the door with his head down.

**End of Flash Back: Present Day**

Desiak pushed open the gate letting himself out of the garden just outside the inn, he was already equipped with his armor and lone lance as he started around town. The man's grey eyes peered down right in front of him as he slid his hand in the open air bringing his menu to life.

The clock read clearly above its options and settings the time.

**'2:15'**

Desiak's voice murmured under his breath as he looked around the plaza.

"I still have time..."

The menu closed with another swipe of his hands as Des started towards one of the main roads, seeing Vendor Stalls on the horizon at the end of the street. People walked on either side of the road,the idea of no cars gave a liberating feeling to Desiak as he strolled down the center limestone pavement

_'Focus on the positive.'_ He thought to himself, trying to smile towards people who glanced his way. The majority turned immediately back forward acting as though they never made eye contact.

Farther ahead he saw a stall that seemed to sell general goods. This process had already felt like a routine for each floor, as soon as it's reached he would go to check the next day at the general store.

The crazies that work through the night will have already found enough info and put it up for sale. You could make a decent amount of cor for it, but fighting was still easier and far less tedious than mapping the floors.

Desiak paced calmly to the stand, taking a look back around the market, he couldn't see the other store he was looking for but one thing at a time. He turned on his heels looking back to the shop's NPC in front of him. He put on a smile as he went through the paces that NPCs' gave.

"Hello and welcome to Toppas! How may I help you?"

Desiak smiled, even though it was an NPC the instinct to be polite in something like this stuck in his mind.

"Could you show me what you have to sell?" It was a question but Desiak stated as though it was a command. The NPC didn't care she only smiled back and a tiny screen appeared in front of Desiak showing him what was for sale at the moment. At the top of the list were the usual crystals and potions.

When Desiak was starting to scroll through the shops menu's he felt as though someone was driving nails into his neck with their eyes alone. People were still walking around; this was the market after all. He couldn't resist, he turned around seeing if anyone was watching him, his brow raised as he checked faces.

To his surprise no one was there.

_'Humph, guess it was my imagination._'

Desiak turned back to the stall about to click the '**Buy**' button for a map of the floor before he was punched in his non-armored shoulder by a small fist.

"What is wrong with you?!" yelled the fist's owner up to Desiak. The voice was feminine and Desiak immediately knew the owner.

His eyes looked down to her, his expression blank count the pursed lips he had as he stared back down to her. He calmly pressed the 'Buy' button without even looking at it. He could've just bought twelve for all he knew. But another screen popped up in front of where he was facing now stating he successfully bought a **'5th Floor Map.'**

The girl couldn't help but read the words; even backwards she made them out clearly.

"Were you just planning on leaving us all there? To go solo, do you think you can do that Des!?" She was furious.

Desiak sighed dismissing the notification before turning his whole figure to face her; the girl was at about 5'4 with plain silver hair that went to her shoulders. Her eyes were violet that stood out as an odd eye color. He didn't know if she had found out some way to change her eye color as she did her hair, but he didn't really care about it at the moment they had met.

"I do." He spoke flatly, bringing up the map in his menu screen, as a solemn diss to the girl.

The girl sighed, calming down, laying her arms to her sides.

"Dammit Des, we need you." Her eyes trailed off to the pavement below their feet.

"Cyllia, you all are fine." He was obviously trying to comfort her; his eyes even flickered down to hers for a moment before he turned around heading back down the road of the market.

"Des!" She said as she ran after him, going to his side while they walked.

Desiak was focused down on his map he had just gotten, his eyes diverted as a new screen popped up stating:

**'You've been invited to join a party.'**

Below that read:

**'From: Cyllia.'**

Desiak stopped walking to turn to his right seeing Cyllia cross her arms and had a serious look to her face. His expression was still blank as he spoke.

"Really?"

She replied with a curt nod. "Yeah, you're going to go level, I'm gonna come along. Besides, Talon's been freaking out since you left."

He thought for a moment, his finger already raised and ready to press the '**Accept.**

She smiled up to him until he would move, egging him on to press it.

"Fine..." He finally spoke in a deep sigh, his finger pressing down to accept her invite.

Cyllia grinned in victory, before going to walk further only to turn around, smiling even bigger. "So where are we going?"

Desiak walked to her, passing her even.

"We're going to replace my shield," He let a grin curl the corner of his lips as he kept his eyes forward.

Cyllia clasped her hands behind her back, walking in strides. "What happened to your old one?"

"The boss fight with Talon, heh…"

"You broke it?"

Desiak's frowned, an indescribable chill trickling down his spine as he remembered being encased in a dome of liquid fire. His shield had snapped inside and left him to take the full effect of the attack for more than a second.

"You alright?"

Cyllia broke his train of thought which was refreshing to him.

"Yeah," He smiled down to her, noticing her new bulky armor it was something you'd expect a knight to wear minus the plate skirt around her waist. "-I..." He stopped, blushing while he turned his face around as fast humanly possible.

"So what has Talon said?"

She giggled, ignoring the big guy's blush.

"Talon was furious; he started yelling, but not much more. Oh! He found a replacement for you as lead."

"He found one that fast?"

Cyllia nodded still kicking up her feet, watching them bound up as she walked. "Yeah, he's friendly and everything, not as good as you were though. It'll be odd fighting with someone new." She frowned realizing her friend was set on soloing.

"Cyll, you should try to be nicer to him. If I avoided you, I'd doubt you would have tried to find me here."

"Des come on! You know we need you; you're the only one who isn't dead on the inside in this place!" She whined, rushing in front of him, forcing the man to stop in his tracks.

Desiak leaned forward, his lips next to her ear, Cyllia froze, her face flourishing a vibrant red that covered everything from her collarbone up.

"I left Talon, not you, and if you want to come with me anywhere I won't hesitate, understand?" His voice was hinting that he was somewhat happy until he pulled himself back up to his regular posture, giving her a nod before walking forward.

Cyllia's face turned back to her pale complexion as she shook her head. "Wait!" She started in a sprint to reach his side once again.

**Flash Back: January 2nd, 2023; 4:25 A.M.  
Floor 4: Forest**

The trees seemed as though they were blended together, the darkness slipped through the branches overhead, following the raid group like a snake slithering behind them as they walked the dirt path to the dungeon. It was just around 4:25 in the A.M. As Desiak walked behind Talon with the others walking in more of rows down the path like a military styled group role-play. Eden followed a good ten yards back from the most senior row of players. It was a dusk morning, still able to see, but from afar, the sight was blurred with fog.

"Up ahead there's an open area, will stop there for about fifteen minutes, and head through the mountain. The dungeon should be towards the river in the middle, and we can head in when were ready. Do you hear me?"

Desiak and the rest nodded as they walked down the dirt road.

"Des, come up here will ya?" Talon suggested to Desiak, who took his invite jogging up towards the leader of the group.

"What's up?" Desiak said in a questioning tone, looking at Talon as they walked the path.

"Look, I want you tell me about that guy back there," Talon eyed back behind him, toward Eden. Desiak glanced back at the man addressed.

"Well, I mean… I don't know anything about him, I just know that he showed up to the meeting, and he seemed alright to me," Desiak grinned, not concerning himself if he gave a chuckle to the matter, "And the guy looked like he needed a friend! So yol' Des took the job!"

Talon looked at him with an expression like, _'are you serious.'_

"Well…"He said glancing an annoyed look back at Eden himself, "If the guy isn't useful, we could leave him at the Dungeon ya know?" Talon started to say.

"What?! Why would-"

"Keep it down! Don't want 'him' hearing us..."

Desiak looked annoyed, not understanding why he would do this.

"Look, why would you do something like that?

Talon scrunched his face a bit, looking from side to side, as if he was trying to come up with a reason why he would say that.

"B-Because, ya know, if someone like that is holding back the team, then I don't want him to interfere with our group at least, besides he's not even walking with us. That's a sign right…? Have him join another party or something. Not ours. We can hold our own."

Desiak glared at him, wanting to say something, but stopped his inner thoughts from showing, "Look, before you think of doing something rational, let the guy do something to prove that he's not a scrub."

Talon only laughed, "Oh you're not the one in charge here Dessy, but sure, we'll have the kid prove himself, for now just keep focused on the fight to come."

Fifteen minutes had passed, and they had reached the open area that Talon mentioned. The sun started to rise from the east over a patch forest out in the distance. The open area was green fields with flowered pastures throughout the middle. The group sat under the shade of a large tree, they rested from there miles of walking. Desiak was ready to sit down in the shade, but noticed Eden was standing over by another tree, looking out into field. He took it upon himself to walk over to at least see how he was doing.

"Hey there, um…" Desiak's smile faded away, turning into stone as he had forgotten to do something along time ago.

_'I-I never asked for his name!'_

Eden grinned as he leaned on a tree with his arms crossed and eyes shut. Not showing any recognition that Desiak was here, and before Desiak could say anything else, Eden replied simply with his emotionless answer.

"Eden."

Desiak face palmed as he put out his hand for a hand shake, Eden giving one back, "Desiak's the name, call me Des for short."

"Makes sense. I had only heard 'Dessy' for short, and wasn't clear if that was your full name or not."

"Why didn't you ask yourself?"

"I don't know. I guess I really didn't care." Eden said with a grin turning back to his present position, closing his eyes, his arms still crossed. Desiak's face got bothered by the comment, but only sighed with grin on his own face as he looked out into the field, still conversing with Eden.

"I see you're the smart ass type I presume?"

"No, I'm just straight forward with my answers. There's no point in lying when there's no good reason too."

Desiak grinned, "I see, I see."

Eden stood there emotionless. A slight wind flew past both of their faces as Desiak thought to himself,

_'There's nothing wrong with this guy…just the quiet guy, the quiet smart ass guy.'_

"Well, I'll talk to you when we get to the dungeon."

"That's fine. But a note for the future," Desiak turned around looking directly at Eden, "When you talk about someone to another, make sure the person you're talking about doesn't have an enhanced listening skill set."

Desiak stood there motionless. His eyes were wide and his body tensed up. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to respond, or just to walk away.

"I uh...-"Before he could even finish Eden intervened, "but thanks anyways. That guys a dick."

Desiak nodded; still a little weary of what Eden did, walking back towards the group.

_'It's always the quiet ones that are the most dangerous…'_

**End of Flash Back: Present Day**

Desiak and Cyllia approached the smith shop cautiously;there was something odd about walking into a place in the mindset to buy something that will kill things for you.

Desiak was the first one up the steps not bothering the read the sign above, upon entering the shop was a rectangular room with a glass display box that covered every wall of the building except the entrance.

"Oh this is the biggest one yet..." Cyllia's eyes were trained on the weapon racks that acted as shelves above the display cases. It was if the weapons got more and more extravagant the farther they walked inside.

"Hello and welcome to Likel's Smith Shop!"

Cyllia and Desiak snapped their heads towards the main counter noticing an NPC standing in the back behind it. Desiak was the first to speak stepping to the counter while Cyllia oogled a two hand sword with a black hilt studded at the bottom with a ruby.

The NPC named Likel took notice to Desiak's approach going further into the conversation.

"What can I help you with today sir?"

Desiak smiled, the NPCs within buildings were always much more lifelike with interacting with you.

"I'm looking for a shield," Desiak waved his hand in the air pulling up his menu, dialing through a few options before stopping on a document to press a button, "With these requirements."

The document then appeared in front of Likel who looked at it for a moment before turning back up to Desiak with a frown.

"I'm sorry I do not own anything that can meet those requirements."

Desiak bit his tongue thinking up a new approach while he dismissed his menu.

"Well then, thank you for your-"Desiak stopped having Cyllia jump infront of him, her body leaning over the counter looking to Likel.

"How much for that sword?" Cyllia pointed back to the sword with the black hilt.

Likel studied it for a moment before a screen popped up in front of Cyllia that made her jaw drop.

"You're charging that!?"

Desiak quickly grabbed Cyllia by the back of her chest plate pulling her away.

"Thank you for your time."

Likel smiled waving to the two.

"Come back any time!"

Desiak ignored the comment. 'I shouldn't have focused on Shield Training, I'm screwed now, I'm screwed and going to die." Cyllia continued writhing about as she was drug. "Fucking charge THAT for something so basic!? Fuck you !"

**Flash Back: January 2nd, 2023; 6:35 A.M.  
Floor 4: Arkile**

The dungeon's opening was clear and concise from the raiding groups view. They ventured down from the side of the mountain, heading down towards the river, finding the entrance. Talon of course excited because he found the dungeon first,

"Yeah!"

The dungeon was next to a wide river that flowed quickly. A forest was on the other side, and trees on their side were more spread apart, and open.

The group walked up near the entrance ready to stop, but with Talon's success of finding the dungeon, he wanted to go inside of it immediately.

"Let's not stop here, let's keep on going!"

Everyone looked at him in shock, two voices yelled out from the party behind him,

"Come on! Let's stop! We've been walking for hours!"

"Yea! What he said!"

Talon looked disturbed and his face scrunched up as he spoke in a much louder and darker tone,

"We will KEEP on moving, so we can PROGRESS further!"

As Desiak didn't like the idea either, he was about speak out for his own interest, but it seemed someone had beat him too it.

"You're party has worked hard. Let them rest so they can be at their full potential."

Everyone turned around, including Desiak looking at Eden who was advancing towards Talon at a slow pace.

"Excuse me?" Talon said trying to keep control of the situation, startled from the boy's outburst.

"You heard what I said." Eden said looking bluntly at Talon with a little to no emotion. His voice did have a tone of leadership in it though.

"You are part of MY clearing party grunt; you don't just march in expecting to do things that YOU want to."

Eden kept his pace toward Talon, "Really? Your party shows differently."

The group of people seemed to be worn out, except for Desiak and himself. Even Talon seemed a little short winded.

Talon snarled at his comment, "Why don't you watch your mouth boy, before I beat that new attitude of yours, grunt."

Eden walked right up to Talon, who wasn't much taller than himself, but was wider and seemed stronger. Talon and Eden looked at each other eye to eye, and the tension grew with every passing second.

"And who's going to make me."

Talon gave a loud snort, as Eden stood there peering up at him.

"Anyone here could squash you like a fly as if you were nothing more than a pebble!"

Eden looked directly at him, "None of your men could match up to me in a dual."

Talon snickered under his breath obnoxiously pausing to take a breath of the mountain air, he then continued, his face now turning red from the laughter. The group had started to snicker alongside him. Desiak only looked surprised with doubt as he listened to Eden talk his words aloud.

"Really? Well then…" Talon started looking at each of his party members and started to grin.

"Then, why don't we have you and Desiak duel for our break time show?"

Desiak looked directly at Talon with a surprised look, shaking his head and a bit confused all at the same time.

"Wha….?!"

Talon looked at Eden, expecting him to show emotion only to see a stoic face.

"Fine. Sounds good to me."

Talon's cheerful expression turned serious when Eden lacked hesitation.

"Alright then!"

"Hey wait a second!" Desiak ran up to Eden who had already tapped the screen in front of him, "Look, if you're trying to prove something hear, this isn't the way to go."

Eden sighed looking directly at Desiak, "Look, I have no problem with proving myself with randoms, it's the waiting for the opportunity is what kills me. If Sarge here wants to drop me at the nearest chance I need him to know I'll remember it.

Desiak blinked, confused. "You've done this before?"

Eden opened the request menu for a dual, dialing in Desiak's name. "No." He said bluntly sending the request.

Desiak hesitated, glancing back towards Talon who was smiling back at him. He mouthed something along the lines of _'Go on'_ it was hard to tell, but this was something that apparently needed to blow over.

Desiak smirked at the comment seeing the **'Duel Request from: Eden. Do you wish to Accept?'**

Desiak clicked the **'Accept' **button and walked next to Eden, "Well, I hope you know what you're doing."

Eden gave a small laugh to the comment, "I'll be fine."

As the two looked at each other from a good distance, the raiding group stood on the side lines, along with Talon watching with the group, amused of every second. A screen with a clock popped up counting down from '**30**' as the men readied themselves.

Talon walked in between the two and stated the rules, "Alright. The first one to get the other down to the yellow bar wins. Understand?"

Both Eden and Desiak nodded as they readied themselves more. Eden, only with a one handed sword, it had a black hilt allowing his hand to rest perfectly on it as it was wrapped in white colored leather. The sword itself looked sharp and intriguing by its shape. Desiak's Lance was hilted perfect for him as well, light enough for one hand, as he pulled out his shield in his other.

Eden stood there with both hands on his sword, resting down by his lower stomach pointing outwards towards Desiak, as Des had his shield in his left arm, readied, and his lance angled upwards.

**'Begin!'**

Neither had moved. Both were looking intensely at each other, watching every movement the other made.

Desiak slightly twisted his lance, facing the edge towards Eden…causing Eden to burst into a sprint towards him.

Desiak readied himself as he saw Eden charging at him at intensified speeds, faster than Desiak has seen in the game. Eden twisted the hilt of the blade to face forward as he leaped into the air, coming down for a vertical strike on Desiak. His sword glowed blue as he activated the attack. Desiak quickly lifted his shield letting Eden strike the metal sending sparks off the clashed weapons. Desiak's face, for the brief moment, was illuminated, showing his shock at the force Eden pushed out.

_'How did he rank up his AGI so much?'_

The contact was still there, as the force of the strike still plunged forward, Eden yelling as he put more power into the one strike, causing his sword to glow a brighter blue, to Desiak's surprise, he would have never expected this from him.

_'Well, this will be interesting…'_

**End of Flash back: Present Day**

Desiak sighed sitting atop the steps outside the smith shop. Cyllia was sitting to his right leaning onto his unarmored shoulder.

"You're usually peppier Des, something up?"

Desiak's expression was solemn again. He turned his face away from her to watch the grass around the smith shop.

"Dessy?"

Desiak shook his head standing up letting Cyllia fumble for a moment in her knight armor.

"Let's try to do something before it turns dark." Desiak spoke as he was stretching, changing the subject immediately.

Cyllia smiled jumping to her feet, her silver hair bouncing to life as she did so. "I know something we can do."

Desiak looked back to her, setting his arms to his side. "You know some hunting grounds?"

The girl shook her head, "There's a quest a village over that rewards a pretty good shield, I could do it with you if you wanted."

Desiak brought up his map spotting the village she was referring to, "Alright then, let's go."

He started off in the direction of the village, leaving Cyllia to catch up on her own.

She sprinted after him, "Why do you keep doing that!"

An hour later the duo arrived in the village. The village was a few buildings dug into the hillside with grass covering the roofs. It was fairly basic, no real smith or store in sight.

Just ordinary shacks.

Cyllia ran over to what appeared to be an elderly woman standing by a decrepit building.

"Cyll you don't have to run..."

She pursed her lips as she furrowed her eyes, much like a child.

Des simply walked up to her grinning, placing a gauntlet to her head. "Shut it."

"Okay so accept the quest and we'll start. We just have to go into a nest out in the woods and grab a necklace. It shouldn't be too hard."

Desiak raised a brow down to the girl after taking his hand away.

"You never mentioned fighting, all I have is my lance and without a shield I'm just a slow fighter."

Cyllia nodded, watching Desiak interact with the quest menu. "Yeah but you have me here."

Desiak pressed **'Accept'** to the quest,

"We'll just have to switch more often than usual." Desiak spoke calmly, pulling his lance of his back to look at it.

The blade was like an overgrown rapier with a V cut into the tip causing it to have two points. He had never used it to slice, even though it was a good blade.

**Flash Back: January 2nd, 2023; 7:04 A.M.  
Floor 4: Dungeon Entrance**

Everyone was amazed and jaw dropped from the pure power emitting from the two, causing each person on the side to take a step back, Talon not only was surprised, but grinned as he knew Desiak better than anyone here.

Desiak roared out as his shield turned a bright purple, signifying he was using a defensive move. Eden's eyes went wide with shock. The tables turned from Eden pushing Desiak back, to Desiak slowly, but surely pushing back Eden. Des took the opportunity to throw him back, to give himself time to recover.  
Eden went back with the toss, regaining his guard, still astonished from what he saw.

Desiak grinned as he put his guard down slowly watching Eden form a new strategy.

_'I can't hold back on him. He's way stronger then he looks, and much faster too…'_

Eden crouched down a little, allowing them not to be locked, with his sword up in a guarding pose right out in front of him, pointing the sword hilt up.

_'He's not just talk; he's got the power to back it up… as expected.'_

As Eden thought quickly for his next attack, Desiak was already in pursuit. Slow, but effective when he wanted to be. Eden charged in as well, meeting each other half way. Eden swung first, hitting Desiak's shield directly.

Des took a step back with his left foot, taking the impact from the slash, and countered with his lance as a direct stab towards Eden's stomach. Eden's eyes widened as he parried right, quickly avoiding the stab, letting the shield slip past bashing against his face, throwing him down forcerfully.

Eden stood up quickly, Des swung down to try to get a direct hit again, but Eden parried yet another swing. The swordsman jumped up right, trying to make contact to the head, his sword glow was a bright blue yet again, but Desiak had already established his defensive ability by throwing his bright purple lighted shield up and over his head. The impact was with great force again, throwing Eden off and away.

Desiak stood there breathing a little irregular, but could tell his opponent's actions were implying the same as his.

Talon laughed looking at Eden, "Take on any of my men huh?" Laughing harder as he spoke aloud, "Well it looks like you can't even get passed Desiak's shield, more or less damage him!"

Desiak stood with a bend in his knees, holding his shield a couple of inches off the ground, as he let his right hand holding the lance rest, allowing the blade to touch the ground.

_'How does he expect to win this?' _Desiak thought to himself, watching Eden analyze him as he was doing the same.

Eden was eyeing every part of Desiak up and down, side to side. His mind was running extensively, thinking of every strategy he could conceive.

_'His inner thighs are open, making that a weak point, but his whole right arm is exposed, making it accessible to attack with more ease…though, that lance and shield combo are impenetrable if all I can do is parry and be knocked down. I either have to parry differently, and see if I can get more of a hidden strike, or take that lance out of the picture.'_

"Do you want me to start trying now, Desiak?" Eden said with a grin standing up tall with his sword out in one hand, the blade pointed towards Desiak.

Desiak and Talon both had wide eyes, and intrigued by the smaller tone man's words.

Desiak, taking affiance to this slightly, only started moving towards Eden slowly.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

Eden grinned at him, "Stop holding back. I told you, I can handle myself."

_'That little shit is gonna get it now…!'_

Desiak cracked his neck gripping his fists as he held on to his items tighter, and charged in towards Eden.

_'Why isn't he moving?'_

This time, it was as if switched. Eden stood there with his sword out with one hand, watching Desiak's every movement.

Desiak got in range, lunging with his right arm slashing down from an angle with his lance, Eden parried by rotating clockwise underneath the slash of his sword, popping out on his right side, and before Desiak could react, Eden slashed down on his right arm, making him grind his teeth and faultier for the second at hand. Desiak quickly turned around bashing Eden back with his shield.

_'Dammit! That's why he wasn't countering… he was trying to find my damn weak point. Well, one can only parry forever.'_

_'He's to smart, either I'll try it again, or I'll have to counter differently next time, because he's is definitely producing damaging.'_

Desiak grinned as he did the same tactic as before, coming in lunging with his right hand, allowing his lance to come down on an angle towards Eden. Eden grinned as well as he was attempting to do the same tactic as last time, but was fooled by a clever Des.

Desiak quickly turned to his left rotating himself around to where his shield was in front, and before Eden could counter, Desiak's shield glowed a bright yellow color, bashing him back a couple of feet.

The effect from Desiak's shield only made Eden cringed as he tried to move.

Desiak grinned.

_'I guess someone doesn't like to be stunned!'_

Desiak took his opportunity as Eden stood there eyes wide and teeth grinding as he tried to move, but could only stand where he was. All of this happening in the matter of seconds, Desiak took his chance as he swung down with his lance onto Eden's right shoulder.

As the sword made contact, it made enough damage to equal to the same amount Eden caused to Desiak. Though, Des could have done more damage if not for Eden's quick recovery and getting out of the situation.

Eden skipped back quickly, then rushing in like a mad animal, screaming full out. Desiak's face was hard and serious as if it were plastered on permanently.

Repetitive swings were coming from Eden, double combos, triple combos, quadruple combos, non-stop swings left and right, up from the top, side to side… but Desiak would not move.

When Eden jumped back, trying to attack from a higher advantage, in only failed as Desiak swung his lance at him, making contact, and having the duel continue on through massive amounts of repetitive sword clashes. If Eden didn't hit his sword, it hit Desiak's shield, and if Desiak was about to come in contact with Eden, his parried and swung instantly back at him.

**End of Flash back: Present Day**

"Cyllia!" A voice yelled from a good distance away.

Desiak's ear twitched at the familiarity of it. His instinct was to take his lance and point it directly at the source of it but he held himself from doing so.

"Hey Talon." Desiak smirked keeping his eyes of the quest giver before turning to face the armor clad giant. "Heard you found a new front."

Talon smiled pleasantly, ending it quickly to look directly at Cyllia. The two were no longer friends.

"Cyl, guild meeting, now." His voice was demanding, tensing every muscle in Desiak's body. It seemed Talon had the same aura given off because he seemed like a stone held in place.

Cyllia nodded slowly walking toward Talon, turning around to mouth the word.

Desiak turned just in time to see it.

"Sorry."

Desiak stood there, eyeing the two as they walked away.

Out in the distance, stood a boy watching from under a tree, as the guild leader took the girl away, leaving the other man to stand there to his lonesome.

_'They would have only hurt you more Des… Don't trust anyone. Not even yourself…"_

Depressed and tired, he walked away as well, as if nothing ever happened.

Desiak only stood, alone, and without any home to go to.

**Well, I hope you guys liked it! Notice how it was Sword ART Online, not Sword ART(S) ONLINE :D *achievement* 5 Gamerscore :3 I'll take it! ^^**

**Anyways, please review, we are literally basing this story off from the reviews we get, so please help us out and we will try to provide the best we can!**

**Thank you.**


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